Iwata says 3DS can connect to the Wii U, plus other goodies

Nintendo’s Wii U is a very different console. On the one hand it’s as beefy as a PS3 and Xbox 360 and capable of churning out HD graphics in full 1080p resolution. On the other hand, it’s got that 6-inch touchscreen motion controller that can beam content to and from the TV seamlessly without any noticeable lag. Do you know what would be great? If you could connect your $250 Nintendo 3DS to it and use it as second controller.

In a recent shareholders meeting, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said, “It is possible technically. However, when doing this you lose the ability to go online. Also, if you connect the two, players have to buy both system.” As translated by Andriasang from this blog’s summary, it’s unclear whether the online mode is disabled for the 3DS or the Wii U controller (it has a built-in web browser).

Certainly this is good news for Nintendo fans who adopted Nintendo’s 3DS early and want to see some kind of connectivity. It might even chime in with Reggie’s statement that the Wii U can theoretically support more than one controller.